I know we are just about halfway through January, but this is my first post of the year, so Happy New Year!
I am curious. Do you look at the new year as an opportunity to hit the refresh button and set an intention for your year? Or do you ignore that entirely and just move through it without much thought?
Every January 1 I like to reflect on the past year and then hit “refresh”. I like to choose a word to help set the tone for how I would like to see the year go. I do this every year, except for last year. I didn’t write one down last year for some reason.
I’m not a “New Year, New Me” person. But I use it more as a recalibration.
I had to take a little time off in the last quarter of 2023. It was a really hard season in my life and my focus needed to be on my husband and keeping the calm in my home. Projects were wrapped up and put away and I ignored having to do anything that would require any added chaos to our lives and home. Even cleaning out closets.
I felt like my world stopped and the rest of the world just kept on spinning around me. In case you don’t follow me on IG, I will give you a glimpse of what was going on.
My husband has been fighting cancer for almost 8 years. And it has been a long journey. Many surgeries, many long months of recoveries, a lot of scans, labwork, medications, and needles. It has been challenging for me in so many ways.
This post goes into more about our cancer journey.
The cancer became very aggressive in September 2023 and he got very, very sick and ended up having another surgery in early December. If you have never gone through it, it is really hard to watch and live through as a caregiver.
I had so many emotions running through me. I was angry and afraid and it made me a person I didn’t like and I didn’t want to be. After all, we have been doing this for so many years and I was no longer in control of my thoughts and feelings. I no longer had any joy. I couldn’t find it anywhere and I was struggling.
After the holidays I wasn’t happy. And one day I decided to just stop it. I said it out loud. To stop living angry and frustrated and make the actual decision to have joy. To find the joy that had been lost somewhere.
And it was like a light switch had been flipped. I started to have better and more joyful days. I began to have joy in making dinner. In my warm, safe home. I started to be prayerful with gratitude again. And I decided to just have JOY.
My word for 2024 is JOY!
Not the happy, bubbly kind of joy. That is happiness. But joyful in all things.
Biblical joy is choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction because we know that God will use these experiences to accomplish His work in and through our lives.
I am a child of God and know that I can’t see the big picture. All I can see is right now. So I need to be faithful through all things. And hang onto JOY.
If you want to see some of my other “words of the year”, you can check them out below.
Why choose a word of the year: 2018
This is where I say to just “be kind” to people. Everyone is carrying something. Everyone. Some talk and share, and others move through it quietly without notice. But we all have our battles that we are fighting.
I talk and share with so many on social media in private conversations that have things going on that I never knew about. But they are so kind to me. And so prayerful and so supportive. I have seen the beauty of the human spirit. And they all seem to choose joy.
As the new year is beginning, I hope that this inspires you to recalibrate and usher in an intention to carry you through 2024.
I really appreciate you being a part of this community. It means so much that you are here. 2024 is going to be a good one. I can feel it! My husband is getting stronger every day and we have some dreams we would like to make a reality. It is good to dream and it gives us hope and something to look forward to.
If you have set an intention for 2024, I would love to hear what it is! Please leave a comment and let me know.
Have a blessed day! 
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I pray for so many blessings for you and your hubby. May you receive grace, love and wisdom sufficient for each day.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you so much for your sweet message, Alisa. That means so much to me. I hope you have a blessed 2024!!